1) I know what, when and how much I feed them and that BOTH of them eat full amount.

2) I can visit them whenever I want, several times a day, on my convenience.

3) If I have to do any medical procedures (wrapping the hoof, compress, etc.) I can do it when needed.

4) Fly masks and blankets go on/off when needed, same stands for going to stalls.

Cons

Lots of work, because I have to do everything myself.

^this^

Another pro for me is that there are tons of trails nearby that I can use whenever, and they're all really well drained so I don't have to worry about mud or slippage at all.
The one thing I really wish I had was an indoor arena. I haven't had access to one for years and I miss it so much. I'd LOVE to be able to school more (kinda impossible out on the trail) and I'd love to have the wind and rain blocked when I want to ride.

But, where I am now is really really great. It's the best place I've been at so far. I keep Lacey there for free in exchange for feeding their llamas (whom they buy hay for) everyday and I can do basically whatever I want. It's really pretty great.
I love the whole "taking care of a horse" thing and I have no issue being there daily. It does get cold and lonely sometimes but the benefits far outweigh the costs, in my opinion.

My experience is
1. $150 full field board somewhere and get crappy care. My horse lost weight, we bought grain and hay numerous times because she was always running out. The electric fencing stoped working a lot, so the horses would get out and mine pulled a couple shoes from it. And my horse was always outside and their pasture was a mess so he had numerous absesses.
2. $400 Full stall/pasture board where he did gain weight, and they took good care of him. But he was in his stall more than in the pasture, and got really hyper, plus I wasn't fond of the cheap food they were feeding.
3. $125 self care board. There are three boarders and we each have our own barns for our horses with stalls and pastures attached. So my horse can come and go in his stall as he pleases. I can feed him the grain/hay I want and I know he's getting it. Plus it's 2 mins from my house.

I enjoy spending time with my horses and prefer to take care of them myself. Especially since it's a whole lot cheaper.

Boarding is great for many reasons! You don't have to do all the dirty work for one, and they often provide things that most homes do not. (ie. Indoor arena, heated wash racks,etc..)

Personally, I would LOVE it if I could keep my horse at home. My Boarding barn is small, but it is hectic, as most are. George doesn't always get (what I consider) absolutely top notch care. I LOVE my BO and BM to death, I really do. And I do everything and anything I can to help them out. But if George was in my backyard, I would have no worries... ever.

Someone once told me, "No one will ever take care of your horse quite like you will." And I believe that saying 100%!! Unless I am the sole caretaker, it's just not quite good enough for one reason or another. Lol!

I voted Board because that's really my only option with my lifestyle. But let me tell you, it is hard to find boarding places that meet my standards.
Some of the problems I've had with boarding:
-Long commute
-Stallions stalled around an arena where I had to train mares
-Bad fencing, bad water, flooding pastures
-Nowhere outside to ride
-B.O. That gave IV meds to horses without permission

But for me a great boarding place is ideal. While I wish I could have my horses at home so I could control every aspect of their life, a great boarding place (the last two I've been at) lets me be that involved. My current B.O. Lets me say exactly how much hay/grain/supplements I want fed, she feeds at the same time every day, turns out religiously, but also uses good judgment and keeps horses in if there is a lightning or wind storm and dangerous for the horses to be outside. If the horses are ever in during the day, she gives them all arena time. She blankets/unblankets, the stalls are always spotless, the water buckets are scrubbed clean daily. She makes sure all the horses turned out together get along well and no one is picked on. Not to mention there is an indoor and outdoor arena, and just outside the barn door there are 50 miles of trails.
My last place was even more ideal since it was a small private barn and I became best friends with the owners. They literally took care of my horses as if they were their own. I only left because I had to move a couple of hours away.
For me, if my horses were at home they would not get such wonderful care since I work 12 hr. Shifts. I tried to do my own care a few years ago but to give horse care before and after 12 hr. Shifts was exhausting. Plus we were tied down to the horse care, always having to plan our lives around getting home in time to feed, which meant sometimes the horses' feeding schedule was not as regular as I would have liked.

- Horses are cared for EXACTLY the way I want.
- I can see them from my half the windows in my house
- I am the only one that handles them.
- Pasture maintenence, fence maintenence, etc., is done my way and to my schedule.
- I can ride in very small window of opportunity, 45 - 60 minutes, because all I need do is run out and grab one out of the paddock and go.
- Much, much, much less expensive

Cons of home care -

- No one else to do the work.
- Care goes on in all weather and all seasons, no "days off"
- Ties you to home somewhat - need to get a sitter to go away
- Have to arrange work schedule around vet and farrier visits

Pros of boarding -
- access to professionals: BO, instructor, trainer
- lots of people to ride with
- someone else does the hard stuff when the weather is bad
- facilities - boarding usually means tack rooms, rings, jumps, wash stalls, etc.
- routine vet and farrier handled for you
- social life - most boarding barns have a highly developed social life

Cons of boarding -
- Expense
- the equipment and supplement fairy. Every boarding barn has one; and at every boarding barn, even the very good ones, your personal property tends to disappear
- no control over who might be handling your horse
- limited access to your horse; barn hours, etc.

I board at a place that isn't really for public boarding, so there is only one boarder besides me. I like it because:
-All I have to do is pay $60 each month (I probably could get away with never paying, the lady is a great friend... but I do pay ;P).
-I love it because she has all the tack I could ever need to borrow, and an arena, roundpen, wash rack, and stalls. Also, she would let me borrow her trailer (if I were brave/good enough to drive with a horse in the back :p)
-My horse has the company of other horses, and nice, safe fencing. My fencing at home is more conditioned to holding cattle, I just don't trust it.

However!:
-It is about 20 minutes away, and the roads are very hilly, so if any snow falls forget going (ah, I HATE winter!!). Sometimes I have to go weeks without riding or even seeing my horse because he is out of the way. It is very hard to get any training done in the busy season at work or whatever else is going on in life.
-There are really no trails to ride at that barn. I like to do hill work and get the horse out of the arena sometimes and it's just hard :/

I'm considering moving my horse back and forth from my house and the barn if I get another horse... I just don't want him to be lonely.

I love boarding my horse because:
-I meet a lot of people, trainers, other riders
-I get a lot of opertunities to get out into the dressage world and do things
-I don't have to worry about my horse when we go on vacation, she is taken care of
-Its only 4 minutes away, I can even walk if I really want to
-The people are a blast

I guess there are a few cons to boarding, but for me, its the best choice. It really depends on you personally. I wouldnt have time between school, friends and everything else, to feed a horse and clean the barn everyday.

Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the The Horse Forum forums, you must first register.

Already have a Horse Forum account?
Members are allowed only one account per person at the Horse Forum, so if you've made an account here in the past you'll need to continue using that account. Please do not create a new account or you may lose access to the Horse Forum. If you need help recovering your existing account, please Contact Us. We'll be glad to help!

New to the Horse Forum?Please choose a username you will be satisfied with using for the duration of your membership at the Horse Forum. We do not change members' usernames upon request because that would make it difficult for everyone to keep track of who is who on the forum. For that reason, please do not incorporate your horse's name into your username so that you are not stuck with a username related to a horse you may no longer have some day, or use any other username you may no longer identify with or care for in the future.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

Log-in

User Name

Remember Me?

Password

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.

Old Thread Warning

This thread is more than 90 days old. When a thread is this old, it is often better to start a new thread rather than post to it. However, If you feel you have something of value to add to this particular thread, you can do so by checking the box below before submitting your post.I am aware that this is an old thread and I want to revive it rather than starting a new thread.